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Could There Be Another Continent?

Alexander Ross • • 7 min read
Could There Be Another Continent?

Just before the dawn of the dinosaurs — roughly 251 million years ago — Earth's continents abutted one another, merging to form the supercontinent

supercontinent
The causes of supercontinent assembly and dispersal are thought to be driven by convection processes in Earth's mantle. Approximately 660 km into the mantle, a discontinuity occurs, affecting the surface crust through processes like plumes and superplumes (aka large low-shear-velocity provinces).
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Pangea. ... But the constant movement of Earth's tectonic plates raises a question: Will there ever be another supercontinent like Pangea? The answer is yes.

Will there be another continent?

The last supercontinent, Pangea, formed around 310 million years ago, and started breaking up around 180 million years ago. It has been suggested that the next supercontinent will form in 200-250 million years, so we are currently about halfway through the scattered phase of the current supercontinent cycle.

What is the next super continent?

According to this model, the next supercontinent—a sprawling landmass dubbed Amasia, which in its earliest stages will merge Asia with the Americas—will stretch across much of the Northern Hemisphere, the researchers suggest.

Alexander Ross
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Alexander Ross

Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.